Gifted For Glory

Psalm 36: 5 - 10

1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 11

January 19, 2025

When our grandson was very young, and by that, I mean 4 or 5, he would come down to visit for a week or two. Because I genuinely enjoy long distance driving, it usually fell to me to drive him back to his home in northern California.

We would often leave very early. I would carry him out to the car all bundled up. I would place him in his car seat asleep and it usually wasn’t until about the Grapevine that he would wake up. From that point forward it was on.

One of his favorite games to enjoy was to tell me how fast a variety of animals could run. Then, if traffic was very light, I would slow the car down to whatever speed he had said and we would marvel at how fast it was….. or wasn’t.

We would have long discussions about who would win in a fight between a variety of animals. But what I think was the most fun – at least for me – was our singing. We had a Vacation Bible Camp CD that he loved – I still have it. We would put that CD into the car – try that one today – and then we would roll down the windows in my truck and the two of us would sing at the top of our lungs as we rocked down highway 5 in the central valley.

Now remember, this is in my truck where he had to sit in the little cab seats behind my seat. So for people who passed us by, it just looked like some old fool of a geezer rocking out in his car, at the top of his lungs singing. Or maybe he was having a stroke.

Either way, Mason and I got a lot of looks and finger pointing because we were singing – really singing. Not worrying about being on key. Not worrying about how we sang. Not even worrying about what other people thought. We simply loved being together and singing was an expression of the love we have for one another.

I enjoy going to sporting events. Watching on TV is nice, I appreciate the comfort. But kind of like watching church on TV when you honestly had the capability to go in person, it is just not the same.

In the stadium fans are passionate, committed, living and dying on single plays or misplays. In the stadium people are invested, in part because the tickets are so expensive and parking is $60 to $100 a car, but they are invested because the glory of the team becomes their glory. Hot weather, cold weather, rain and snow. It doesn’t matter. Look at the crowds. Look at the commitment….. for football, baseball, basketball or hockey. I love going to those games.

Friends, dear ones, what would church look like if we sang like Mason and I did driving through the central valley? What would church look like if we attended Sunday worship like we do a football game, basketball game, or even a great concert? Now I am not suggesting that we start tailgating in the parking lot before church. But what if we came to church on a Sunday morning absolutely committed to seeking out and having an experience?

An experience. A life changing experience. A transformational experience. An experience where we feel so connected with and loved by our fellow attendees that we cannot imagine not being there. An experience where we marvel at the abilities, the giftedness, the examples being embodied by young and old in their pursuit of worship, praise, and Christ-likeness.

What if we came to worship determined to love the players just like we love our athletes. Oh sure, I don’t want to carry that metaphor too far. But so often we come to worship determined to be right in our preferences, preferences for music, preferences for liturgy, preferences for sermon types, preferences for a particular seat – and heaven help us if someone unknowingly sits where we have always sat. What if we gave up the need to be right and simply came to be blessed….. and bless others.

What if we came to worship as stakeholders instead of spectators? What if we came to worship as upset by the potential of missing church as millions are right now with the potential of losing Tik Tok?

What if we came wholeheartedly instead of exuding a self-created spirit of judgment and preference? What if we came believing, honestly believing, wholeheartedly committed to the notion that, in worship, not only will we encounter the risen Jesus, but that every person we meet there is made in the image of God, destined for glory, is so loved by Jesus that Christ died for him or her. What if we dared to believe that we could come to worship – actual worship, not conversation on the patio during worship but actual worship and that we can be blessed – really blessed – by each person in our church family’s expression of the gift, or gifts, given to them by God through the work of the Holy Spirit?

Stakeholders. Not spectators. Fans of Jesus, not simply citizens compliant with dying cultural expectations. But like Season ticket holders, concert series ticket holders, what if we were people invested – ultimately invested in Jesus, his teachings, and his people? Faith that makes a difference – in this life and the next. Friends, you are destined and gifted for that kind of glory.

Paul says it well in our text. Contrary to the idols of our culture – idols that write checks they can never cash, idols that make promises of meaning and significance that they can never deliver on, idols that are many times simply the material expression of our own wants and preferences – God offers to us a a relationship through Jesus Christ that destines us for glory in eternity and – AND – giftedness in this lifetime.

Paul then lists a series of spiritual gifts. Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, tongues, he goes on. Several places in scripture – Romans, here twice in Corinthians, Ephesians, and Peter – several places in scripture, specific abilities are mentioned as gifts given and maintained by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of work in God’s kingdom.

“Well Jim, I have a number of gifts, how do I know if they are spiritual gifts?” It is actually fairly simple. Who is being served by your gift? To whom does the expression of your gift point? Who gets exalted? Whose work gets furthered? If your gift set is lifting up Jesus Christ; if the expression of your gift set points, and give thanks, to God then you are expressing a spiritual gift.

And friends, fellow stakeholders, beloved of God here is the kicker. Every single one of us, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, has been blessed with one or more spiritual gifts.

A church I served a number of years ago made a strong commitment to the discovery and expression of spiritual gifts that resided in the people of that church family. That church made a commitment to helping church family members discover and nurture those gifts and in the first session we always asked, “Who here thinks that they have one or more spiritual gifts?” One or two would raise their hands, but most felt they had no spiritual gifts.

Over the next several weeks we explored spiritual gifts, conducted a number of exercises and completed a spiritual gifts assessment tool. To a person, EVERY SINGLE PARTICIPANT, discovered that they been blessed with at least one gift. It was so affirming.

I can think of saints in this congregation who, in their humility, would probably declare that they have no spiritual gifts – thinking that spiritual gifts are somehow only directed to the ordained ones. Saints, I would never want to carry that burden. Thankfully, I don’t have to.

I am not going to embarrass anyone, but I could point out folks sitting here right now who probably think that they don’t have any gifts. But I know, I know, I can always count on them for an encouraging word. There are those that are quick to advocate for their preferences – and they may be right. But those who simply encourage, those who express appreciation for even the smallest of things – you have no idea how refreshing that is. It is like cool water going down a strained and parched throat. THAT is the expression of a spiritual gift – the gift of encouragement.

There are those who make the administration of the church a shared and complimentary effort. Folks, there are a lot of moving parts to the church. In the last 4 weeks I have probably spent – realistically 75 hours – trying to figure out how the church can become compliant with state regs for how we account for and pay those that are employed by the church. I am so very, very thankful for those who have the gift of administration and offer those gifts so freely so that we can be good stewards of our church staff.

There are many more, but the point is that stakeholders – full active participants in the family of God – discover and employ those gifts as a vibrant expression of who they are as God’s beloved.

In today’s language, to describe someone as an “amateur” is often a disparaging term. But in its original use, particularly as applied to athletics, an amateur was one who did something simply for the love of it. Amateur is a French word, an elegant word, speaking of passionate committed action done – not for their glory, not for their compensation, not for their own recognition, but simply as an expression love for the thing they are participating in.

Friends, we need more amateur Christians. Passionate. Exuberant. Exercising all of their gifts and abilities for the church, for Jesus, for the expansion of God’s kingdom. We need amateur Christians, here because they can’t be anywhere else; unafraid to sing at the top of their lungs, to praise and worship as though they are the most important things they will do this week. Amateurs – all of us, doing this church thing, this faith thing together because we love it. Kind of like going to a football game or a concert.

To God be the glory! Amen.